Samsung inadvertently confirms Galaxy Tab 4 models

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 will be introduced in three different models as usual.

Samsung, which last year launched a range of tablets under its Galaxy Tab 3 series, is now set to bring the Galaxy Tab 4 series. Actually, the South Korean manufacturer inadvertently listed Galaxy Tab 4 (10.1/8/7) tablets in the list of devices being compatible with the Galaxy Gear fit smartwatches.

The Galaxy Gear fit smartwatches - Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo - are based on Tizen wearable mobile platform and were unveiled at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2014 in Spain.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 will be introduced in three different models as usual. The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4 will succeed the current Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 model. While the 8-inch Galaxy Tab 4 will succeed the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 model. Finally, the Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 will succeed the current Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 model. As expected, these tablets might be introduced with Android 4.4 KitKat operating system along with the TouchWiz user interface.

Just like last year, Samsung is expected to introduce the separate 4G LTE network supporting Galaxy Tab 4 models. We expect Samsung to introduce HD resolution support in the 7-inch Galaxy Tab considering its arch-rival, the Nexus 7 bears 1080p HD resolution support. Overall, the hardware specifications of the Galaxy Tab 4 series tablets will be iterative and nothing that can surprise the consumers. Since three years Samsung has been offering the tablets with 1280x800 pixel resolution natively. Samsung is expected to show the Galaxy Tab 4 models at the Computex 2014, which is scheduled to be held in Taipei, Taiwan, from June 3.

The L III series smartphones

LG L90

This seems to be the costliest among the three which is quite palpable from its appearance as well as specification. First of all, it comes with a 4.7 inch True IPS display- the biggest among the three. Despite having such a big display, the phone feels a lot lighter, chiefly due to the prudent design. The highlight of its design is its minimal bezel surrounding the display. The phone is quite thin as well. The rear panel has a textured design but it does not feel that good and would create problems for sweaty palms. The phone is entirely plastic and the moment you touch it, you will get to know about the same.

The display however looks great despite having only qHD resolution. Though its brightness seems sufficient, we did not had a chance to check the same in bright outdoors. The display is also has Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection that should provide it some protection against scratches.

The LG l90 has a dual SIM slot which are located beneath the back panel. Under its display there are four touch icons of which one is meant to switch the default SIM while the other three are for return, home, and stetting shortcuts. The micro USB port is located at the bottom; the 3.5 mm jack is at the top. The volume rocker and the power buttons are on right and left hand side respectively.

The LG l90 is armed with a 2540 mAh battery which should provide it decent talktime. At its rear lies an 8 megapixel camera with BSI sensor. To assist the camera, there is an LED flash light. We captured few images using this camera indoors and it managed to click decent images but more research in that regard is to be done. The rear camera though is said to be capable of capturing full HD videos. In the front it has a VGA camera which is decent for video calls and selfies as well.

The LG l90 has a quad core processor as well. To assist the processor, the LG l90 has 1 GB RAM. It comes with 8 GB internal storage and 32 GB micro SD card slot as well. It has Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system and it comes with a modified user interface. The highlight of its interface is the KnockCode feature that allows you to set a personalised pattern for home screen access which looks good in our first interaction.

LG L70

LG l70 too comes with a textured rear panel but it does not look that attractive as the l90. It has also a smaller 4.5 inch display and that too with a bit lower resolution - 400x800 pixels. The display thus looks a bit dull but it is a True IPS screen and has good viewing angle. The phone also felt quite light in hands despite having a good 2100 mAh battery.

The differences between l90 and l70 are not superficial; they are quite different in terms of hardware too. To start with the l70 has a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and only 4 GB ROM. It has though 1 GB RAM and a 32 GB micro SD card slot. The phone felt quite fast during our brief encounter but ofcourse in absence of proper testing, we will like to reserve our judgement.

The LG l70 has a 5 megapixel rear auto focus camera. There is an LED flash besides the rear camera as well. The few snaps we clicked using this camera at the venue did not look that great; a slight zoom clearly showed grains. Note that an 8 megapixel camera bearing LG l70 was also showcased at the Mobile World Congress event last month; we would have like to see that in India. It has a VGA camera in the front which should be good enough for video calls.

It comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat version as well and has the KnockCode feature that allows you to set a personalised pattern for home screen access which looks good in our first interaction.

The LG L40

It is the cheapest model in the LIII series as of now and thus comes with low end features that you would find in low cost Android smartphones.

To start with the LG l40 has a 3.5 inch display but unlike many low cost Android smartphones, this employs a True IPS unit which provides good viewing angle. This display has only 320x480 pixels resolution which is bare minimum for a display. We did not had a chance to check its brightness in bright outdoors either.

The LG l40 is armed with a 1.2 GHz dual core processor. This is backed up by 512 MB RAM which should be enough for low end games and a hiccup free day to day use but we haven't examined it thoroughly and thus would like to reserve our judgement till a full review.

Camera wise also the LG l40 does not look that good with its 3 megapixel camera with BSI sensor. Few images that we clicked using its rear camera looked quite grainy. Moreover it neither has a flash or a front camera.

Like all other L III series handsets, the l40 too has a dual SIM slot with a dedicated SIM-switch key below the display. Besides, it too comes with the KnockCode feature.

The LG l40 has a 1540 mAh battery which much bigger than what one would look from a handset with a 3.5 inch display. Thus we expect it to provide very good battery back up but again we would reserve our judgement regarding the same till a though review of the l40.

Conclusion

LG has not able to penetrate the low end Android segment due to stiff competition. The new LIII series has decent features but their pricing would be crucial to their fate. For instance, the l90 looks and feels really great. It has also the necessary hardware to succeed in the Indian market but it would only be attractive if it is priced at or below Rs 15,000; above that it may not have enough buyers.

The scenario for l70 and l40 looks more dire. To start with they lack a good display as well as camera - two essential features for success in the Indian market. However, all the LIII series handsets have good user interface and huge batteries that may attract the Indian buyers.

LG has not revealed their pricing or availability details for India. We will try to review the handsets as soon as they are launched in the market.

Advisory board calls for new limits on NSA surveillance, addresses many major concerns

Advisory board calls for new limits on NSA surveillance, addresses many major concerns


The panel tasked with advising the Obama administration on the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs recommended new limits on the agency’s spying practices, according to reports.

Previously, many were skeptical of the group’s ability to provide sound advice given the history of the participants and their close ties with the Obama administration.

In the over 300-page document containing the panel’s recommendations, many of the major concerns involving NSA activities were addressed.

The panel urged Obama on Wednesday to bring the government’s mass collection of phone call logs to an end, a practice which a federal judge recently ruled to be likely unconstitutional.

Instead, the advisors called on the administration to keep them in private hands “for queries and data mining” by court order only, The New York Times reports.

The panel also recommended a new test to be conducted before operations involving surveillance of foreign leaders are approved.

The test would involve weighing the potential impacts on diplomatic and economic sectors if the operation were to be uncovered, as many recently were.

The decision to monitor communications of foreign leaders should be made by the president himself and his advisers, not the intelligence agencies, according to the panel’s recommendations. However, it was reported previously that the White House knew about the surveillance.

The panel also called for new limits on surveillance of ordinary non-Americans. Recently, it was reported that millions of ordinary British citizens have been spied on by the NSA, something which would be limited if the panel’s recommendations were implemented.

Speaking of the NSA’s efforts to subvert work on secure encryption standards, the panel called on the NSA to make it clear that “it will not in any way subvert, undermine, weaken or make vulnerable generally available commercial encryption.”

The panel also touched on the practice of purchasing so-called “zero day” exploits, something which has made the U.S. the world’s largest buyer of malware.

The advisors said the U.S. practice of using the software flaws to launch cyberattacks undermines the public’s confidence in American products and should be discontinued.

The likelihood of the implementation of that recommendation in particular seems quite slim. The New York Times notes that the practice was responsible for getting a hold of zero day exploits that “were critical to the cyberattacks that the United States and Israel launched on Iran in an effort to slow its nuclear program.”

Yet that might not be the only one of the 46 recommendations issued by the five-member panel. Indeed, the recommendations are non-binding and many would require either Congressional legislation or presidential action.

The White House called the report “comprehensive and high quality” in a statement and said their overall review would come to a close “over the next several weeks,” Fox News reports.

“The President will work with his national security team to study the Review Group’s report, and to determine which recommendations we should implement,” the statement said.

Some in Washington have already voiced their support for the report. Many of the long-time critics of the NSA will likely voice similar opinions as well.

“The message to the NSA is now coming from every branch of government and from every corner of our nation: You have gone too far,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

The 2 Easy Ways to Make Your PC Run Like New

One of the most frustrating things in life is a slow computer.  

Every few years, we buy an expensive new PC and love how fast it starts up, runs programs, and loads websites. Inevitably though, it starts to slow down until eventually we are pulling our hair out waiting for it to do routine tasks.

Why is this?  It turns out the answer is actually quite simple and you don't even need to be "technical" to understand the causes and solutions.

The good news: It's not the computer hardware that's the problem. In most cases, the hardware you have is perfectly capable of being restored to its original glory and kept in fast running condition with minimal effort.

Rather, the problem lies with changes that occur to the PC's software.

 The two most common causes of slowdown (along with easy solutions) are:

1. The most common problem: registry errors
Every time you (or your kids) load a program, game, or file, your PC's software registry is updated with new instructions needed to operate that item. However, when the item is removed, these instructions usually remain on your PC. Every time you run your computer it tries to execute these instructions but, because the related program can't be found, it causes a registry error. Your PC is doing a lot more work than it should be, and the result is a significantly slower computer.

One of the best ways to manage this is with a neat little tool from Support.com, a Silicon Valley based company. It's called ARO 2013 and it scans, identifies, and fixes registry errors —resulting in a computer that's a lot more like it was when you first bought it. On top of the amazing results it offers, it's so easy to install and use that it was recently awarded a coveted 4.5 star rating (out of 5) by CNET's editorial staff, and has been downloaded more than 30 million times.

You can now get a free working version of the software, which will quickly scan your entire PC and identify all of the registry errors that may be bogging it down. The free version also scans for junk and checks your PC's baseline security status. It will eliminate the first 50 errors for free, and if you have more errors that you want to clean up or want to set the program to run on a regular basis (which is recommended), you can easily upgrade to the full version for just $29.95.  After that, registry errors will no longer be a problem.

To get the free version, simply click here.

2. Spyware and viruses

Spyware and viruses are software programs that are loaded on your computer without your knowledge or permission. They have various purposes, including:

• Changing the default search engine in your browser
• Tracking your Web surfing habits and showing you targeted advertising
• Using your email program to send out spam to other email addresses
• Stealing your personal information

Most spyware and viruses get onto our computers through files that we download from the Internet or as attachments to emails. They tend to take up a lot of computing power and, as a result, will significantly slow down your computer.

The simple rule of thumb to follow is to never download any free software programs from companies you do not know and trust, especially screensavers, emoticons, and the like. In addition, you should never open any attachment to an email unless you are 100 percent certain you know and trust the sender. Having a good anti-virus/spyware removal software running at all times will also help.

Follow the above advice, and your PC should stay fast and safe.

Stanford researchers conducting study to find out what metadata can show NSA about your personal life

Stanford researchers have launched a crowdsourced study relying on volunteers to hand over their data in an effort to find out how much the National Security Agency (NSA) can learn about their targets just through harvesting metadata.

The NSA has collected metadata on millions of Americans and others around the world. Documents revealed in June of this year that Verizon was ordered to hand over all records for U.S. customers to the NSA. Since then, reports of the NSA’s ability to create complex “pattern of life” profiles for millions of people have also emerged, among many other related reports.

In order to show just how revealing the metadata can be, researchers Jonathan Mayer and Patrick Mutchler created the Android app “MetaPhone.”

The app collects a person’s metadata including call logs and basic data from Facebook accounts in order to build a profile based on data similar to what the NSA gathers.

Mayer points out that some say the NSA program has little impact on privacy and is not really surveillance since it just collects metadata.

“Like many computer scientists, we strongly disagree,” Mayer wrote. “Phone metadata is inherently revealing. We want to rigorously prove it—for the public, for Congress, and for the courts.”

The researchers will gather data from participants’ phones through the app, which will then be analyzed at Stanford University.

“Device data will include records about your recent calls and text messages,” the researchers said, according to WorldNetDaily. “Social network data will include your profile, connections and recent activity. The data will be stored and analyzed at Stanford, then deleted at the end of the study. Research staff will take reasonable precautions to secure the data in transit, storage, analysis, and destruction.”

After just two weeks of conducting the study, the researchers have already shown that they can automatically predict a participant’s relationship status using metadata.

Even though only one in four subjects had their Facebook account configured to display relationship status to a stranger, the researchers still found out about their targets’ relationships.

Their current system, however, has a bit of a tradeoff. If they want to get relatively few singles wrong, they can correctly guess around 60 percent of individuals with significant others. If they accept getting 33 percent of singles wrong, they can get over 80 percent of individuals with significant others right.


“These are, to emphasize, preliminary results. We will have more, better, and higher confidence findings as additional users (like you!) participate,” the researcherswrote, noting that it is just a first step towards confirming just how important metadata is.

Mayer told MIT Technology Review that they believe metadata can reveal a great deal of private information about a person’s personal life.

“Our hypothesis is that phone metadata is packed with meaning,” he said.

MIT Technology Review notes that this research could make waves outside of just debates around policy and legal concerns about domestic surveillance.

They point out that private industry has joined the datamining frenzy, with some telecommunications companies monetizing their own customers’ metadata.

Just how much personal information can be obtained through this type of metadata analysis remains to be seen and the researchers have not revealed how long they will be collecting data.

Yet if what was accomplished after just two weeks is any indicator, they might be able to find out quite a bit indeed.

Google’s Newest Invention: A Lie Detector Throat Tattoo

Google’s Newest  Invention: A Lie Detector Throat Tattoo

Remember that one time when Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, “Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it”? Well, apparently Google has just filed a new patent for…

Wait for it…

An electronic lie detector throat tattoo.

I wish I was just joking.


Google subsidiary Motorola filed U.S. patent application #20130297301 for the nanotechnology entitled, “Coupling an Electronic Skin Tattoo to a Mobile Communication Device” on November 7, 2013. It begins:

A system and method provides auxiliary voice input to a mobile communication device (MCD). The system comprises an electronic skin tattoo capable of being applied to a throat region of a body. The electronic skin tattoo can include an embedded microphone; a transceiver for enabling wireless communication with the MCD; and a power supply configured to receive energizing signals from a personal area network associated with the MCD. A controller is communicatively coupled to the power supply. The controller can be configured to receive a signal from the MCD to initiate reception of an audio stream picked up from the throat region of the body for subsequent audio detection by the MCD under an improved signal-to-noise ratio than without the employment of the electronic skin tattoo.

The fact that it’s temporary (it’s applied with an adhesive) makes it only half a tick less creepy than that guy who wears a trench coat and visits children’s parks alone. However, it only gets creepier and the potential privacy invasion factor only gets more invasive from there.

First, there’s the fact that whoever controls the tattoo can send the signals it generates to all kinds of mobile devices:

Controller 101 of electronic tattoo 110 can be configured to execute programs or instructions to enable communicative coupling of the electronic tattoo to external electronic devices such as a smartphone, a gaming device, a tablet computer, a wearable computer, for example.

Obviously based on this description, the “controller” doesn’t necessarily have to mean the person wearing the tattoo.

Further, it can single certain people out in a group setting:

…The throat microphone of electronic skin tattoo 200 can have its own identification and be selectable in a group setting, for example, where multiple users are wearing an electronic skin tattoo 200.

Next there’s the express mention that the tattoo can also be applied to animals:

The electronic tattoo 110 can comprise audio circuitry 103 that enables reception of acoustic signals from a person’s throat when the electronic tattoo 110 is applied to a throat region of a body. Here it is contemplated that the electronic tattoo 110 can also be applied to an animal as well.

Optionally, the electronic skin tattoo 200 can further include a galvanic skin response detector to detect skin resistance of a user. It is contemplated that a user that may be nervous or engaging in speaking falsehoods may exhibit different galvanic skin response than a more confident, truth telling individual. 

Google Tracks Everything You Do, Even Offline

Google Tracks Everything You Do, Even Offline

Google tracks everything you do, and they are not limited to just tracking you online. The search giant is now developing ways to track users across laptops, tablets and smartphones. They can even follow you right down to the the stores you visit and businesses you call from your mobile device.

The new Google AdWords feature, called “Estimated Total Conversions“, is aimed at advertisers that use the platform to serve their ads to you while you browse the Internet. The idea behind the new technology is to track a user from the time they are served an advertisement, until the time they walk into a brick and mortar store, or shop online in order to purchase the advertised product. Google uses the following pitch when selling the new feature to advertisers:


People are constantly connected, using multiple devices throughout the day to shop, communicate and stay entertained. A September 2013 study of multi-device consumers found that over 90% move sequentially between several screens for everyday activities like booking a hotel or shopping for electronics.
As consumers are increasingly on the go and switching between devices, marketers are telling us they want to see a more complete and accurate picture of how their online advertising drives conversions. Conversions can come in many forms: visits to stores, phone calls, app downloads, website sales or purchases made after consulting various devices. Getting better insight into these complex purchase paths can help you optimize your online advertising and allocate budget more effectively.

In addition to your web browsing habits, Google is now tracking your call logs, your GPS records, and a list of the devices that you use on a daily basis. This of course includes your mobile phones, tablets, laptops and more. All in the name of targeted advertising and conversion statistics.


Google has the ability to access many types of user data from Android apps as well as Google branded apps for the Apple iOS including Google search, Gmail, Google Maps and the Chrome web browser. If a person is using any of these apps while they are shopping, or happens to have them running in the background, Google can use that data to pinpoint the user’s location and see if they are in a store or other place of business.

So if you were on your laptop searching for a new television, and you were presented with a Best Buy advertisement in the search results, Google could tell if you walked into, or called a local Best Buy an hour later to make the purchase. You would only need to have your mobile device along for the ride, Google would be recording the entire process. This would be an example of Google’s “Cross Device Conversion” technology.

Android users give permission for Google to track them in this manner when they opt-in to use “location services” on their smartphone’s Options menu. iPhone users allow this behavior when they agree to allow “location services” for apps like Google Maps and Gmail.

Online tracking is nothing new, however Google has taken this a step further by continuing its tracking efforts into the real world.